Nile Gardiner is a Washington-based foreign affairs analyst and political commentator. A former aide to Margaret Thatcher, Gardiner has served as a foreign policy adviser to two US presidential campaigns. He appears frequently on American and British television, including Fox News Channel, BBC, and Fox Business Network.

The Lockerbie Bomber’s sick PR stunt

For a man who’s supposed to be on his death bed, mass murdering terrorist Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi is remarkably busy launching a website claiming he is an innocent man. I wouldn’t be surprised if he later launches his own boutique public relations firm in London, Paris and New York. As The Daily Telegraphreported, the Lockerbie Bomber has released a 300-page dossier of legal documents he believes establishes his innocence. He plans to publish further documentation next week.

The website has been condemned by relatives of the 270 innocents who died at the hands of Megrahi and his murderous cohorts in the Libyan government. As the Telegraph piece notes:

Kathleen Flynn, whose son John Patrick died in the bombing, described the website as "evil" and claimed it was rubbing "salt into the wounds" of the families, following Megrahi's release. She said: "It's absurd that someone who has been convicted of murdering 270 innocent people has this kind of freedom. It's unconscionable and the thought of it just disgusts me."

Disgusting is absolutely the right word to describe this latest affront to the memory of those who died at Lockerbie, part of a broader effort by the Libyan dictatorship to rehabilitate Megrahi and claim that his trial was a miscarriage of justice. This has to be one of the sickest PR stunts of the 21st Century, orchestrated by a vicious and barbaric regime that possesses not an ounce of moral fibre.

There should be swift and strong condemnation from the British and US governments of this blatant slap in the face from Tripoli, especially in light of the fact that more than 50 Britons and over 180 Americans were butchered by Meghrahi on the orders of Colonel Gaddafi. But so far not a squeak from Downing Street and the Foreign Office – and deafening silence from the White House and Foggy Bottom.

Gordon Brown’s shameful approach to the whole Lockerbie affair has been a huge embarrassment for Britain, and his government is up to its neck in what appears to be a massive scandal involving shady oil deals with Tripoli. The fact that he remains as quiet as a Trappist Monk on this latest move by the Libyans is unsurprising for a weak-kneed premier who looks increasingly like Gadaffi’s little helper.

But the notable absence of any official criticism from Washington of Libya’s latest lobbying efforts on the Lockerbie bomber’s behalf is highly disappointing. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton should speak out far more strongly against Muammar Gaddafi’s ghastly defence of a convicted terrorist.

We shouldn’t hold our breath though. Obama has gone out of his way since becoming President to appease Iran, Venezuela, Russia and practically every other tyrannical regime on the face of the earth. Unfortunately there’s little reason to believe Libya will be treated any differently by this administration once the dust has settled over the Megrahi debacle.